“I think you can expect everything but cap-and-trade,” Grassley said in a conference call with agricultural reporters. “I think it’s fair to say that there will be an energy bill taken up.”
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The Iowa Republican said that the bill may include a renewable electricity standard as a key component, a provision which would require utility companies to generate a certain portion of their energy from renewable resources by a target date.
Grassley acknowledged that that provision may not necessarily be popular, but that there may be room for compromise among senators.
“Now I think it has a tough time getting through the Senate,” he said. “I like renewable portfolio standards, and I would vote for some compromise in that area.”
Update — from a transcript of the conference call reporters:
QUESTION: And, you don’t think the climate bill will get out of the Senate?
GRASSLEY: I don’t believe so.
I believe that with the controversy that came up after the House passed it, and the — the lack of any accomplishment whatsoever — regardless of the official statements put out, there was no accomplishment of anything in Copenhagen, I think it doesn’t spell a good opportunity.
And then you have the e-mails being released, and that’s another factor. And even though they have not been fully analyzed at this point, I think they’ve also contributed to the negative prediction.
Update 2 — at a separate event in Iowa today, Senator Grassley appeared to question the science behind climate change:
“It brings attention to a lot of the scientists that are saying global warming is more natural than man-made, although they don’t exclude man-made as being some addition to it, but is it enough to make a difference?” he said.
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“And see that’s what the e-mails coming out of the British university seem to raise questions about – is the intellectual honesty of the peer review process. Because they very openly say they want to quash some of the opposition and the publishing of the opposition,” Grassley said.
